This invention relates to coated, dry-roasted nuts. More particularly, this invention relates to a process for preparing coated, dry-roasted nuts which exhibit superior coating adhesion and uniformity, and the nuts produced thereby.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,800 to Noznick et al. attempted to overcome the problem of poor salt adherence to nuts by first roasting nuts and then applying a coating of wheat gluten to the nuts while still hot. Noznick et al. further suggests the application of gluten and salt in a single wet phase. Although superior to the prior art, the method of this patent still has several drawbacks, including the undesirable requirement of coating nuts after roasting and while still hot and the limited number of seasonings which can be combined with gluten in a single wet phase.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,545 to Green et al. discloses a method for adhering a dry coating prior to roasting by first coating nuts with a honey solution and then the dry coating. Green et al. also recommends the use of an additional adhesive agent such as malto-dextrin, dextrins, edible polymers, gum arabic, guar and cellulose derivatives in combination with the honey solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,758 to Morris discloses the use ofan aqueous mixture of sugar and one of gum arabic, gum acacia, guar, xanthan, corn syrup solids, dextrine or mixtures thereof as an adhesive for a sugar/starch/dried honey mixture applied prior to roasting.
Unfortunately, the use of such prior art binders either requires coating after roasting or results in a substantial amount of coating loss which occurs during the coating, roasting, cooling, packaging and storage processes, or both. This coating loss often causes the product to take on an unattractive speckled appearance and is disadvantageous in terms of waste. Although the material shed from the nuts as a result of this coating loss can be reclaimed and re-used to coat a subsequent batch of nuts, reducing the amount of waste, such reclaim process is undesirable from the standpoint of both economy and product quality. Having a substantial amount of reclaim is expensive because extra handling is required to collect and re-use it. Product quality suffers from the re-use of reclaim due to that fact that product flavor is altered because some of the volatiles from the reclaim coating are lost during roasting. Furthermore, because reclaim contains nut oil, spoilage of the reclaim becomes a factor. PG,4
It has now been found, surprisingly, that use of a gelatin solution as a binder in conjunction with a starch substantially reduces the amount of coating loss and, hence, reclaim caused during the process of dry roasting nuts and does not require coating after the nuts are roasted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,375 to Holloway, Jr. et al. discloses a process for preparing a low-fat nut wherein a reference is made to gelatin as a binder for seasonings. This patent, though, clearly does not suggest the use of gelatin solution as claimed herein, nor any appropriate amounts, nor the use of starch in concert with gelatin solution.
There remains a present need for a binder for dry-roasted, coated nuts whereby the amount of coating loss and reclaim caused by the roasting process is severely reduced.